Bible Strands
1 Kings 20:42
And the prophet said to the king, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because you have let slip from your hand the man I had devoted to destruction, your life will be exchanged for his life, and your people for his people.’”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet, having just removed his disguise and revealed his identity to the king of Israel, delivers a spoken judgment to him immediately after their battlefield encounter.
The words — The Hebrew verb שִׁלַּ֥חְתָּ (shi.Lach.ta) translates literally as “you have let go” or “you have let slip,” denoting the king’s deliberate failure to retain a captive.
The thread — The prophet cites the king’s failure to execute the devoted king of Aram (1 Kings 20:39) and anticipates the same fate falling on him through an unaimed arrow (1 Kings 22:31; 2 Chronicles 18:33).
Why it lands — The text states that sparing a divinely devoted enemy results in a life-for-life and people-for-people exchange. It demands that readers acknowledge the irreversible cost of ignoring explicit divine commands.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And he said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 22:31 Now the king of Aram had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders, “Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel.”
- 2 Chronicles 18:33 However, a certain man drew his bow without taking special aim, and he struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. So the king said to his charioteer, “Turn around and take me out of the battle, for I am badly wounded!”
- 1 Kings 20:39 As the king passed by, he cried out to the king: “Your servant had marched out into the middle of the battle, when suddenly a man came over with a captive and told me, ‘Guard this man! If he goes missing for any reason, your life will be exchanged for his life, or you will weigh out a talent of silver.’
- 1 Samuel 15:9 Saul and his troops spared Agag, along with the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs, and the best of everything else. They were unwilling to devote them to destruction, but they devoted to destruction all that was despised and worthless.
- 1 Kings 20:34 Ben-hadad said to him, “I will restore the cities my father took from your father; you may set up your own marketplaces in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria.” “By this treaty I release you,” Ahab replied. So he made a treaty with him and sent him away.
- 2 Kings 6:24 Some time later, Ben-hadad king of Aram assembled his entire army and marched up to besiege Samaria.
- 2 Kings 8:12 “Why is my lord weeping?” asked Hazael. “Because I know the evil you will do to the Israelites,” Elisha replied. “You will set fire to their fortresses, kill their young men with the sword, dash their little ones to pieces, and rip open their pregnant women.”